Neural DSP just sweetened the deal when you pick up a Nano Cortex for Black Friday - help yourself to a plugin of your choice free of charge

In all my years covering the Black Friday music deals, I’ve yet to see any Neural DSP hardware product get a discount. Unfortunately, that’s still the case this year. If you want some extra value for money when buying a Neural DSP Nano Cortex, you can bag yourself one of their highly rated plugins completely free when you purchase from an authorized dealer between November 21 and December 3.

You can grab a Nano Cortex at the following qualifying retailers, and those who buy from Sweetwater in the US will bag a free Eminence Impulse Response Sampler pack too:

• US - Sweetwater
• UK - Thomann

Once you’ve purchased, you’ll need to claim your free plugin by creating a Neural account and submitting proof of your purchase in a .jpg, .png, or .pdf format. It’ll be validated within 21 days, and then you can download your choice of free plugin directly from your Neural account. Do bear in mind though, you can’t run plugins on the Nano Cortex itself; you can use it as an audio interface to run the plugins on your PC or laptop however.

For more information on how to claim your free plugin, head over to the Neural DSP website for a step-by-step breakdown.

I’ve been hands-on with the Nano Cortex, and in my opinion, it’s one of the most powerful pieces of hardware around right now. They’re also incredibly popular along with the larger Quad Cortex, which means there’s no real reason for Neural to discount them any time soon. If you want one and need some extra value, this is a great way to get more for your money.

Neural DSP Nano Cortex: Free plugin
The Neural DSP Nano Cortex is ideal for players who don’t want to fully commit to a floor modeler but want the convenience of amp modeling for playing live shows. It’s jam-packed with some of the most incredible captures we’ve ever heard, and you can make your own captures with it too – impressive for such a small unit. With this deal, if you buy a Nano Cortex from an approved retailer between November 21 and December 3, you can bag yourself any Neural DSP plugin completely free of charge!

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I know a fair few guitarists who’ve switched to Neural modellers, and our reviewer gave it some serious praise when we covered the recent OS update in our Neural DSP Nano Cortex review. It’s ideal for the player who likes their stompboxes enough that they don’t want to switch to a full floor unit, allowing you to use Neural’s superb amp captures when you’re out and about playing live.

The lack of screen does take some getting used to, but honestly once you’ve found your way around the unit you’ll soon forget it’s there. The inclusion of a companion app for your smartphone essentially works as a screen, allowing you to make deeper settings changes. For those who want to do away with smartphones while playing, there are plenty of tactile knobs and buttons that let you get around the unit.

I also love the fact that it’s so compact and lightweight. It means it doesn’t add too much weight when on your pedalboard, or you can chuck it in a backpack and use it as a travel rig. You can even power it via USB-C or a regular pedalboard power supply, making it an incredibly versatile bit of kit to have around.

Shop more Black Friday deals

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• IK Multimedia: Up to $300 off Tonex hardware
• Musician's Friend: Early Black Friday 50% sale
• Native Instruments: Over 50% off UA bundle
• Plugin Boutique: 100s of software savings
• Positive Grid: Up to $50 Spark savings
• Reverb: Black Friday early access
• Sweetwater: Up to 80% off Black Friday sale
• Thomann: Up to 70% off Cyber Week sale
• Universal Audio: 12 Days of UAD software sale
• Waves: Huge plugin bundle deals up to 95% off